Love Locked Down (Sequel to High School Affairs)

Clues

(Jasmine POV)

"Guys we haven't had a girls day in a long time. We need to hang out." I say to my friends over the webcam. Tamara is laying on the couch, Autumn is flipping through a text book, Jaida is bouncing Cherish on her lap, Serena is in the kitchen cooking something and Alicia is curled up under her covers with Elijah asleep on her chest.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy w--"

"With Cherish and school and work, I get it." I say, cutting of Jaida before she can begin. She shrugs apologetically as Cherish plays with her fingers.

Serena looks up from her text book. "Hey T, has your stomach bug passed?"

"Not entirely, some things I just can't seem to hold down. It's not too bad but it's annoying." She says with a frown.

"Guys," I say interrupting them. "I'm really bored, can't we go out and hang or something?"

"Where's Craig?" Alicia asks then she looks behind her. "Elijah stop bothering that!"

I sigh and shrug. "He went somewhere with Chris a little while ago."

"Probably the gym to go practice with Jacob." Jaida says with a hint of annoyance.

Tamara makes an irritated sound. "I swear, football is going to be the death of me. If I hear one more thing about football I'm going to kill myself."

"Same here," Alicia says before scolding Elijah again.

"Well where's Torion?" Autumn asks me.

I smirk at her. "You would want to know wouldn't you? I actually thought he'd be hanging out with you but obviously not."

Autumn shakes her head innocently. "Nope, I haven't seen or heard from him since yesterday."

I wave away her thoughts and go back to what I had video chatted them for in the first place. "You guys never answered my question. Can we please go out and do something today? I miss my girls and I'm bored."

"Sorry Jas I can't, I've got to work in two hours and I've actually got to go and get ready now. Maybe this weekend." Alicia says.

"You're always working." I say with a whine.

Leesh sucks her teeth. "You wanna pay my bills for me then?"

"Nah, I'm good." I say, holding up my hands in surrender.

"Alright then," she says. "Um, I'm gonna have to call yall later. I need to go iron and take a shower if I want to make it to work on time."

We wave goodybe as Leesh logs off quickly. "Well what about you guys?"

"Can't, I need to study for this exam on friday." Autumn says, showing us her text book.

"And I have homework to do for school tomorrow. I've been procrastinating like crazy these past few days." Jaida explains.

I throw my hands up in frustration. "Ugh, we have to make time for each other!"

"Hey, calm yourself. We'll hang out soon alright?" Tamara says. I roll my eyes in disbelief.

I don't want us to stray away from each other. Alicia and Jaida have their kids, Autumn is attending college three hours away from town, Serena is wrapped up with Deion. It's all too much and I feel like we're drifting apart.

"Just promise that we'll hang out soon." I plead.

"Promise," they chorus in unison. I give them a relieved smile.

Jaida scrunches up her face. "Um, I'll call you guys later. Cherish has a stink bomb in her diaper."

"Haha, sucker!" Tamara teases. Jaida sticks her tongue out before logging off too.

"And now we're down to the four Chiquita's." Serena says with a sigh.

"That's cause we have no lives." I say in a depressing tone.

Tamara laughs. "Hey, I don't mind. That means more lounging around the house for me."

"You're gonna become a fat ass couch potato." Autumn says to her.

"Too late," Tamara says patting her couch before putting something into her mouth.

Serena leans forward into the camera. "Ew, what are you eating?"

"Tomatoes with salt and pepper." Tamara responds as she stuffs more in her mouth.

We make an 'ew' sound as she eats more. "That's gross T. You don't even like tomatoes."

"I know but I just got an idea to try them like this and it's delicious." She says delightfully. I make a face as she continues to eat happily.

After a while of talking, Serena and Tamara decide to log off too and it's just me and Autumn left.

"Hey Jas, what do the letters BL stand for?" Autumn asks suddenly.

I think about it then shrug. "I'm not sure, why?"

Autumn puts a nail in her mouth and begins to chew on it like she's thinking. "Yesterday Torion and I were at this diner and two guys came in. Torion started freaking out and we had to sneak pass them. One guy had the letters BL stamped on his hat and he looked creepy." She suddenly clamps her hand down over her mouth. "Shit, I wasn't supposed to say anything. Don't tell Torion I told you."

"Torion told you not to tell me?" I ask as nervousness sets into my stomach.

Autumn nods. "Yeah, I'm not sure why, just don't mention it. Alright?"

"Yeah..." I say as I start thinking.

Autumn sighs relieved. "Good, I'll talk to you after I'm done studying. Don't die of boredom."

"No promises," I reply. She giggles and we log off video chat. As soon as I close my laptop, I climb out my bed and leave my bedroom. I walk down the hall to the guest room where Torion sleeps and go inside.

His room is strangely clean for a boy and even his bed is made. I look around, not exactly sure what I want to find. Everything's so neat and perfect I'm almost afraid to walk inside.

The first place I go to is the dresser. I open each drawer and look inside for anything suspicious. I just want to make sure that he's not back to his old ways again.

After checking his drawers I decide to check every where else too. The closet, his suitcases, his jacket pockets, his book bag, his shoes, his pants pockets, every single nook and cranny in the room. I find countless playboy magazines and dirty dvds but nothing worth being labeled as suspicious or bad.

When I come up short, I decide to end my search for the old Torion, hoping that he really has turned a new lead. I head for the door but then something occurs to me. I haven't checked between his mattress.

I get down on my knees, lift the mattress as far as I can and jam my hand between it. I swing my arm left and right, looking for anything stuffed under neath here. I start to think that it's clean until my finger brushes against something soft and silky. I reach further, grasp the material and pull it from between the mattress.

I unfold it and hold it up in front of me. It's a black bandana with BL stamped all over it in gold. In sudden fear I drop the bandana on the floor and take a step back, right into something hard. I spin around to find Torion standing behind me.

"Looking for something Jas?" He asks with his arms crossed.

I swallow hard and look from the bandana then back to him. Flashbacks begin flashing in my head and I cringe at the memories. "You're with them...after what they did to you, after what they did to me!?"

Torion licks his lips before grabbing me and pulling me into a bone crushing hug. He lowers his lips to my ear. "Let's just call this, our dirty little secret. Aye, cuz?"

** ohhh suspense 😏

Sorry for errors